Implantable neurostimulation systems have proven therapeutic in a wide variety of diseases and disorders. Pacemakers and Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators (ICDs) have proven highly effective in the treatment of a number of cardiac conditions (e.g., arrhythmias). Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) systems have long been accepted as a therapeutic modality for the treatment of chronic pain syndromes, and the application of tissue stimulation has begun to expand to additional applications such as angina pectoralis and incontinence. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has also been applied therapeutically for well over a decade for the treatment of refractory chronic pain syndromes, and DBS has also recently been applied in additional areas such as movement disorders and epilepsy. Further, in recent investigations Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) systems have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of chronic pain syndromes and incontinence, and a number of additional applications are currently under investigation. Also, Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) systems such as the Freehand system by NeuroControl (Cleveland, Ohio) have been applied to restore some functionality to paralyzed extremities in spinal cord injury patients.
These implantable neurostimulation systems typically include one or more electrode carrying neurostimulation leads, which are implanted at the desired stimulation site, and a neurostimulator (e.g., an implantable pulse generator (IPG)) implanted remotely from the stimulation site, but coupled either directly to the neurostimulation lead(s) or indirectly to the neurostimulation lead(s) via a lead extension. Thus, electrical pulses can be delivered from the neurostimulator to the neurostimulation leads to stimulate the tissue and provide the desired efficacious therapy to the patient. The neurostimulation system may further comprise a handheld patient programmer in the form of a remote control (RC) to remotely instruct the neurostimulator to generate electrical stimulation pulses in accordance with selected stimulation parameters. The RC may, itself, be programmed by a clinician, for example, by using a clinician's programmer (CP), which typically includes a general purpose computer, such as a laptop, with a programming software package installed thereon.
A clinician or physician may select between different models of neurostimulators to implant within the patient. Significant to the present inventions, each neurostimulation device model has its own programming software package. Thus, in order to be able to program a neurostimulation device, the clinician has to know which model the device is and has to know which programming software is associated with that particular device. If the clinician does not have the appropriate software installed on the CP, the clinician is unable to program that device model. Thus, when a new neurostimulation device model is developed, the developer must ensure that the associated programming software package is distributed to every clinician that may need to interact with the new model of the device. Further, a newly developed neurostimulation device, as well as its associated programming software package, is subjected to rigorous review and validation procedures by the FDA and other such regulatory agencies.
Thus, there remains a need for an easier, more convenient way to update programming software packages for neurostimulation systems.